Please go to the discussion area on this page by clicking on the number next to the 'Edit' button. Current discussions on year 10 unit planning; and 'research'.
So far: Joanna and Mitch doing unit on 'Perception' using 'Holes' and the resource "How Deep do you see" Jenny and Bob doing unit on 'Group identity' using 'Outsiders' and the resource "Wrong side of the tracks"
2012 Term 4:
Hi all. In response to Delilah's comments below here is the plan for the rest of the year. Please use the discussion areas for discussion (top right, click on the number)
1. Weeks 1-5 - completion of earlier work in the year, compilation of folios, prep for exam in week 6. Some work on media units. 2. Week 6 - exam week 3. Weeks 7-9 - possibility of special programme, field trips, ...something different (to be worked out at next LOL meeting, please give me your input.
The exam: (9/10). 2 hours (a bit less..) 1. Response essay. My thinking here is to consider NCEA but simplify slightly. 2. Unfamiliar text.
Folios of work. In the letter I gave to year 10s (fascinating responses to these!) I included the following as a minimum requirement. Anything else you want to include is fine and I think we can apply the same to year 9:
Creative writing (description or story)
Persuasive writing (in the form of either an essay or a letter to the editor)
At least one letter of correspondence (apology, complaint, personal response, request)
At least one reading log entry following the format of year 11 responses again.
N.B The reading response for year 10s should be seen as the beginning of year 11 work as it is the first standard we look at. The full task is called Tasting Texts and includes, towards the end, a summary of requirements that the kids find very useful.
You may also find Steph's framework for reading responses useful, I've modified it and you may want to as well,, and then we can discuss it.
Examples of all of these including writing rubrics will be in you pigeon holes on Tuesday morning.
Finally, on enquiry based teaching (do we really know what this is?) there are great possibilities. Delilah has started the thinking (see below) I really like the idea of student creating their own mini set of study notes - the equivalent of Sparks or Coles. I know it has been done successfully elsewhere. A great extension activity.
Hi Bob,
Can you confirm what writing pieces you want from Junior english this term? I have planned to do the novel study of Slide the Corner; Out Walked Mel and Afterwards. I'm thinking reading response and essay response, is that right?? I'd also like to use this term to promote "finishing" work. I found this year through lack of management on my part perhaps??? That they knew the deadlines and had work basically completed, but lots did not come through with the finishing touches and/or printing/submission. Consequently, I'd like to be able to spend a piece of this term having them reflect per term what was due, where they got to with each piece, for those able, spend some time on finishing those pieces and then collate/create a portfolio of their work for this year i.e. descriptive piece; static image; creative piece; reading response etc so they or I have a booklet of work for 2012. Would that be okay?
Also, in an effort to apply more "consciously" the inquiry based learning, I'd like to allow my top end students the freedom to choose their novel to study and allow them to work in pairs to produce a case study of sorts where they ask a range of questions initially, and then pick one of those to base their novel study around in order to answer the questions they posed. I'd like them tell me what they have chosen to work on and the timeframes they set for themselves e.g. a presentation; speech; formal writing; rap; poem; letter to the editor; If successful, it's something I'd like to continue next year with an entire class to see if it impacts on engagement levels. Last term I was struggling with two boys in 9N. The second I allowed them to work together to create a rap version of a Maui myth, they were heads down, tails up the rest of the term and produced an excellent piece of writing to music.
Let me know your thoughts.
Thanks.
2012 Term 3:
According to our plan we should all be starting myths and legends at this point but Eric and I at least have got ahead of ourselves. I have started with 'Clash of the Titans' using this as a chance to write narrative with dialogue. We are building some good literacy resources here. I want next to look at presentation of myths/gods/goddesses using static images / drama/ speaking/ narrating etc….Please share ideas in the discussion on this page (where the number is top right)
Then we move on to novel study and we need to plan now for resources. Some (Eric?) might like to start novel study immediately. I prefer to use 3 novels to allow for different levels and taste. The writing focus here is the 'response to extended text' essay. However, as we know engagement with literature is tricky. How do we draw kids in to read and to respond from their own experience.
Please let me know asap if you have particular novels you want to book or purchase this term. Here's the start of the list - please add to it.
Yr 9
Out walked Mel
Slide the Corner
Yr 10
Outsiders
Tomorrow when the war began
Older but could be used now?
The Hunger Games
Z for Zachariah
Water in the Blood
Hi all :) Kerry here
I have done the myths and legends stuff with my classes already and we have also worked on a novel study in term one but I was thinking of combining a hot issues with a novel study this term. I have some good critical literacy resources about gangs and I thought I could use these and some debating activities to kick off some enthusiasm (hopefully!) for studying "The Outsiders" and then get into formal writing and response to text and so on for the year tens. I was hoping to do something similar with the year nines but focus on issues facing teenagers and then lead into "Out Walked Mel" and base the work around that novel. For students who have read the books already or finish reading them early, I will set up a reading rewards system and get them to check out other year 9/10 English books from the library and work through them. How does that sound?
This is great Kerry. Well done. There are two boxes of resources on 'The Outsiders' in the resource room and some stuff on 'Out walked Mel'. We need to check the library for text numbers. I would like 10P to do this in the second half of the term so can we consider a swap over about mid term. This might apply to other novels. Literacy focus remains on sentencing until mid term. I have set up a new discussion area to share thoughts on how we teach this.
2012 Term 2:
Hi All,
Bob and I met over the holidays and agreed that the Perception unit would be good for Year 9s while 10s cover the Identity/Family unit he developed. When I briefly saw Kerry at the end of Term 2 she clarified whether we'd be working on the Animals unit, and at the time I thought it probably would be. Apologies if this causes any confusion now but going into Term 2 I will be starting with the Perceptions unit and finishing with Animals. I think Bob said this is fine to switch around. I've attached the unit plan for Perceptions that is no different to last years except the poetry has a lyrical focus now to promote more cultural responsiveness, plus it reflects our goal of improving sentence construction.
Bob, please correct me if I've lost the plot completely and got this all wrong!
Thanks.
As discussed, here's the draft for 9.1 that'll start our 9s and 10s off for the year. Some of it has been taken from this website
http://www.reading-rewards.com can you have a look before we meet next and let me know if you think its feasible for our Juniors? Though the site was originally created for parents to encourage their children, they've since made a groups section for classes to view what friends are reading, book reviews and blogs. I think it'd be great to have book reviews across the whole Year 9 and 10's. Interclass competitions to accumulate the most reading hours. Agreed reading rewards such as class time in the pool, or playing ping pong, free time on the computers as major rewards, 15 minutes free time in class, shared lunch or something as smaller rewards. My only concern is access to computers because 80% of students will have internet access at home, but to be fair, we'd need to guarantee class time for online logging to cater for the 20% who doesn't have it at home. Let me know your thoughts. This link talks specifically about what we'd be using the site for http://www.reading-rewards.com/pls/apex/f?p=501:88:4141977052324165:::::
I think this is certainly worth trialling. Perhaps we should survey the kids as to rewards? I'm a bit concerned about reinforcing an extrinsic reward mechanism that might become an expectation and deny the intrinsic reward that is the enjoyment of the reading itself. Waht do others think? Bob
Can you confirm please I'll be including in the Junior handbook the following only:
1 An overview of our scheme for the year.
2 All unit plans that we'll be covering this year.
2 All assessment tasks?? Or just rubrics?? Because aren't we co-constructing these? I have what I used last year and am happy to include, just would appreciate clarification.
Let's assemble this during the week. I think we will need to co-construct the tasks and rubrics and think perhaps we should just include everything we need for the first term? (as well as year plan, job roles etc)
OK, fantastic, thanks for the feedback. Couple of questions:
1 - When can Steph work with my top 10c kids and their responses? I have prep'd them and they are excited by the opportunity. They will be relieved when I alleviate the pressure of not having to write about STYLE and I will let them know they have alternative response options you listed. I have booked out a computer room all next week for the 4 periods I have them so she can work with them at a machine while I keep the remainder in class with me.
2 - Have you had any luck sourcing a set of Catching Fire? The sequel to Hunger Games. I have a load of kids saying they want to read it.
3 - What is the hour relief a week going to look like incl 3hrs already gone? Hi A few notes to begin with:
The attached response is at excellence level because it is 'perceptive' (as opposed to merely convincing). Our task (guided by the TKI and NZATE models) unpacks convincing in terms of ability to genuinely relate the text to personal experience, and perceptive in terms of ability to see bigger connections in literature, society and history.
Please note that we are not looking at literary analysis here. Any discussion of style (characterisation, vocab, imagery, voice, interior monologue, dialogue..........etc,) serves two purposes. 1. To provide evidence of critical reading, and 2) (more importantly) to develop awareness and appreciation of the writer's craft. This is ONE way of responding (a sophisticated one). However, it is possible to reach excellence with no discussion of style at this level. What is all important is the CONNECTIONS the reader makes to the ideas, stories and characters; in other words to the elements of fiction (for fiction) and to arguments and ideas (for non fiction).
The same applies to the plot synopsis. It is simply there to provide evidence that the text has been read, and allow the student to consider what is important.
What I'd really like to see our energies being put in to here is other ways of responding. ie script writing, scene production, writing in role (a very powerful technique for engagement....)
SO...please don't worry about comprehensive lists of literary techniques. This should be covered when the class examines the same text together.
GOd bless
Bob
Hi Bob,
Can you please read this reading response? I've written it to show my kids as an example of what we're looking for but I need confirmation, that it is what we're looking for lol. e.g. when I wrote the synopsis, I didn't know how detailed to be. Do I give away the ending or any of the twists? As it stands, I tried to be generic and just wet their taste buds, so to speak. Is that sufficient? At the reverse end, is it to much? I read through the ones you gave me and there is no formal language just some technical terms mentioned and their effect(s).
Also, can you please list what technical things could be discussed e.g:
Character
Setting
Plot
Imagery
Vocabulary / Dialog
Point of View
Can you make this list more comprehensive? I'd like to give a template to my students that itemises these things.
Also, I'm having difficulty getting the students to be "bothered" going through the book looking for quotes to prove their points. They're good at coming up with statements and paraphrasing the examples but not at quoting. Which is preferred? Do you have any ideas how to help them break down a book? We've focussed on character development and plot the most.
Thought I'd upload this incase either of you wanted to use them. One is a pretest I gave my kids on reading responses. The other is a result of my Te Kotahitanga observation. My goal I am trying to improve on this term relates to transitioning in class to minimise the amount of instructional time. I came up with this Reading Log. The idea is I will introduce today, A3 print outs of:
1 - Reading Time
2 - Journal Time
3 - Talk Time
4 - Activity Time
5 - Worksheet Time
These printouts will be displayed around the room to remind students of what each involves. Come tomorrow and every other day while studying/reading the novel, I will vary/arrange on the board an assortment of these different "times". My DO NOW will always be the 15 minute silent reading so that is what they always do this term coming into my class - grab their book and read.
The remaining 45minutes will be a combination of activities taken from each of the different Journal;Talk;Activity;Worksheet tasks listed. The specific activities will be on the board and students should come to know depending on the type of "time" how long they spend on that task before transitioning to the next.
As discussed in our meeting here is the copy of the unit plan I'll be working on with my 9's and 10's. The focus being on literary essay and personal reading responses, incorporating media and novel since we didn't get onto novel's last term. I really appreciate your feedback regarding how I can integrate assessment feedback/forward more seamless into my students' learning. It has been on my mind since term 2 how students seem only interested in their summative assessment e.g 50/100 and I haven't yet found way to focus them on my comments that outline how they can improve next time. I like your suggestion of implementing a feedback forum where they have to respond to questions that demonstrate they've not only read my feedforward but have processed it also. I will try this approach this term.
Hi Delilah
This is all excellent stuff. At our next meeting I'd like to discuss the terminology that we use with the kids. eg you plan to consider "story elements such as orientation, complication, resolution and coda". Where does this come from. There's a range of possibilities and I don't mind to much what we use but I think we need to be consistent. The model we use at present with year 11 narrative I find particularly effective.
Can you please try to fit in work on the writing of prose dialogue with an emphasis on the punctuation and layout of speech. This also involves practice in turning direct into indirect speech and vice versa. I say this because it has emerged as a 'gap' in the work I've done with 2 yr 10s so far.
Finally we need if possible to start using oral/drama work for the writing and reading of script even if this only involves a 'reader's theatre'. More on this at our next meeting.
Hi Bob,
Here is the narrative writing unit I've started working on with my classes - I'm sorry its not focussed on script and dialogue - though we will discuss dialogue as one aspect of their narrative writing. If after reviewing you find I'm completely on the wrong track, happy to be "reigned in" lol. For all the other units taught thus far, I always felt nervous to begin without your sign off. This time around, I remembered you saying as long as the AOs are being met, the assessment task is up to me. Thus, I chose short story's and narratives outlined in the coverage document. Alternatively, you might want me to add script/dialogue so that I spend 5 weeks on each??
Let me know. Glad you're back, have been missing your reassurance that I'm on the right track.
Hi Bob,
I have added my 4 classes into easttle and exported the results. Will copy these up to T drive as requested. Attached are a couple of activities that have worked really well with all my classes in an effort to unpack persuasive writing. Feel free to rehash and use if relevant?? :o)
Please note, you may find terminology confusing but all my students know what is meant by a hook from term one when we worked on a response essay.
Weeks 9-11: Focus on Persuade Purpose We'll look at getting the info into the asttle site but our immediate job is to use the data to focus on improving 'persuade' writing for the next 3 weeks culminating in some sort of re-assessment in week 10. I suggest we choose 2-3 areas including one deep and one surface - say content, language resources and punctuation and focus on these?
Our starting point should be to organise the class into groups and provide them with examples of 'persuade' writing at the right level. I'm going to give my top group the college herald with reading exercises and letter writing responses. Can we please share other material.
Hi Delilah
On planning -
This all looks good - certainly covers a lot of the AOs for this term. I'll be interested to see how you get on with the static image as I've run into some problems: namely that the task I co-constructed through TK on "Family" met the follwowing barriers.
1. A lot of students didn't want to share stuff on their family - this was ok as I gave them the alternative of doing media families
2. A lot of students had ideas but were incapable of bringing images from home (no computer, no pen drive, no connection between school and home)
3. A lot of students struggled with the notion of a poster carrying a 'message' and after a chat realised that the notion of 'messages' is alien to them. (We viewed some clips of a hip hop competition - I commented on the interesting costumes and asked how they linked to the music. This drew a blank. "What's the music saying, what's the message - blamk or 'there isn' one. Are we entering a period of meaninglessness - bit of worry when the whole Eng curriculum is about meaning.
You have the advantage of giving them quotes - I'm wondering how much further scaffolding will be required. By the way there's a lot of debate about the new level 1 static image standard - I'll send you our task when I'm technologically and physically on my feet again.
Bob
Hi Bob,
Here is the Assessment document I'm proposing to give my 10's for this term. Can you scan over it and confirm if its okay asap? I'd like to start work on it Friday. I still need to run the static image component by Anna so it may completely change - I will use her as the gauge for this task given she worked with the students. Any feedback would be appreciated.
Hi Bob,
Can you get back to about this 10.2 Perceptions plan? Particularly, what you think of the summative tasks and learning outcomes. I wasn't sure what the focus should be with all that we've discussed sorry. Can student choose an analysis or anthology or do they need to do both? Also, not sure of the thematics. If you can shed some further light, that'd be great. I've gone over the AO's and I can see how all 3 of these tie in, just not sure if its being ambitious or not i.e. should I have static image and persuage letter as the compulsory with anthology and analysis for extension?? Because these two alone would satisfy the Making and Creating meaning Ithink??
FYI - Week 1 was on self perception. Week 2 on body language. Week 3 has been on figures of speech. Wandering if I should get into persuasive writing next week and try to pump task 1 of the assessment out of them in week 5/6?? Not sure about timing due to inexperience. Please shed some light.
Thanks
Hi Delilah
The poetry anthology covers the following skills/objectives: Ability to select texts based around a theme of their choice (poems of love, poems about rejection...poems for Tiki girls ..whatever ...see me for more examples and texts with good thematic based, illustrated poems...). Ability to PRESENT (using ICT) an illustrated collection (with the extension being the ability to combine words and images to make a new statement) Ability to justify the choice and write in a genre that describes and explains
The analysis is a chance to show what has been learned in terms of language features and their effects (writer's craft) and provides another important opportunity to look at response to text essay.
It doesn't really matter what you get through - as long as students are engaged in learning something about language and thinking and thoughts and feelings. The 'coverage' is only to keep us focused on specific aspects of the curriculum at the same time. The static image is covered by the anthology.
Hi Bob,
Here is the assessment document I'll be giving my Year 9's to work on. I will more than likely need all of next week as we've only just finished how to analyse a poem with a splashing of poetry writing. Its such a shame 9A and 9B didn't get to go to the Farm park because yesterday was such a success with 9C getting their creative writing juices flowing. Thanks for covering my 10's. Sorry for the hassle. Given I have the kids 4 times a week that means 2 classes can be spent on completing poster/presentation plus working on them at home and 2 classes on students delivering their presentations. Let me know thoughts please? Is it to drastic if I don't start the 9.3 Perceptions until until week 4?
Hi Bob,
Sorry its taken so long but here is the 9.2 Unit plan with an exemplar you asked for. (Bob here - I've sent you some feedback on you analysis via e-mail) We've been studying The Eagle throughout this week so I've added it to the document as a reference for the type of thing I will be asking the students to complete for their own poem. Let me know if you want something amended. Still working on the 10.2 and 9.3 perception doco's. Thanks :o)
(Just print them off, write on them and hand to me, or update them on the T- Drive under Middle School Planning
*We do NOT need to assess everything but should consider: 1. what each AO means (unpack) 2. what tasks will allow us to assess a number of them 3. how they are best taught. Please complete the chart then go to 'Enhancing the English Curriculum'
9.1 Personal Reading Assessment Tasks - Hi Bob, as requested, here is a copy of what I used with the students. The assessment rubric has gone through a number of changes since this document - which I can upload separately if you like, however its my understanding you just want to revise the Evaluation section for your students. Let me know, thanks. :o)
Hi Bob, please give your feedback prior to Wednesday so I can finalise planning. Thanks.
Great. 2 things though. 1. I know that at some point all the values and competencies and values are considered but can we focus on one or two and think about them more. For this unit the thinking one is essential I think. 2. Can we clarify the nature of the presentation task further. Is my suggestion feasible or too hard? An draft example would be most useful.
9.2 Planning - some initial thoughts:
9.2 'Animals'
Having reached the end of the reading unit are there any big obvious gaps from term 1? Keeping the students primary literacy learning needs in mind)
@ least half of my students would benefit from guided reading journal activities because they can't yet independently read or write well. What I need help with is knowing how to effectively split the class and have half work in groups on independent activities while I work with the other half of the class. (The use of a reading laboratory might be helpful here. Could you trial the one we have - the kids are familiar with their use from yr 8, and we' ll try and get some funding for a new lab if you find it's helpful)
Grammar, spelling and writing in general are a glaring problem area - even for those students who enjoy reading. I might have 5% of students across all classes who write well and are ready for subsidiary ideas, making meaning and understanding connections.(Is there a confusion here between making meaning - understanding ideas etc and and creating meaning - writing?)
Its my honest opinion after seeing the work my classes put out this term, that my sole responsibility next term shouldn't be how to analyse the language of a poem but rather how to construct a sentence, building vocabulary, spelling and grammar. (I totally understand but I think all of this can continue to happen with the poetry but with an opportunity to add more variety, fun, and connection with students (via music). Word buildin in particular is enhance by an understanding of morphology and the notion that each word has it's own story to tell.)
Rather than devote my energy managing off task behaviour because students aren't understanding, I'd like to create self paced activities for those at the upper levels so they can work independently and the other 75% of the class create basic building block journal reading activities to bring up their literacy levels to at least a 3A/4B. (YES - again can the reading lab help. And can we tap into the on line journal resources? I also want to get you into the probe resources which are excellent but I've never got round to using them properly)
If its allowed, I don't mind devoting 1 non contact a day to guided 1 on 1 reading with students if I'm allowed to pull them out of class and do what Andrea does with 7s/8s but with the 9s and 10s until the whanau intervention is implemented?? Who would authorise something like this?? Of course this is entirely up to you. Carol has a short list of some of your students for Andrea - it seems that she CAN work with 9 and 10! So check this out too.
The term 1 AOs are:
MAKING MEANING selects and reads texts - lots of my students didn't even do this well. There might be 20% who chose a text that they read all the way through. Majority read less than half of the text they chose. Consequently, I to get a single piece of writing I had to resort to magazine articles and/or journal stories for a handful. monitors, self-evaluates, describes progress, and articulates learning - I have an evaluation on the wiki for Year 9's to give feedback, and we will complete the written evaluation but I wouldn't mind putting together a formative assessment to identify of what we covered, just how much "learning" occurred. makes meaning …by understanding main and subsidiary ideas ….the few who got up to writing an essay were challenged with this subsidiary ideas. All students irrespective of the level tried to do the same thing and call it an essay - that is, write a page summarising the plot of the story. I ended up getting students to identify a challenge, setting or event and we'd discuss/identify the themes to write together. How to structure the essay was easier to understand, the difficulty was knowing what to write about. uses an increasing vocabulary to make meaning - Doing acrostic poems helped this aspect a lot. understanding ..order and organisation - response essay being so structured challenged this aspect the most.
CREATING MEANING understanding connections between oral, written, and visual seeks feedback and makes changes forms and communicates ideas and information uses a range of oral, written, and visual features to create meaning and effect .. uses a range of vocabulary to communicate precise meaning
How much visual/oral work have you done? didn't do much visual work other than concrete caricature descriptions, simile and metaphor language features and then for the lower levelled students describing food, famous actor or sportsman How do you envisage dealing with the research aspect and how does this traditional task fit the new AOs? Research fits well into the AO's but because of our time restrictions I think that's too bigger task to squeeze into 12 classes (Year 10s) and 16 classes (Year 9s). I'd rather take it out of this term but include it later in the year to consolidate how to write a response essay so that if it didn't "click" this term, it clicks before the end of the year. This is now thought of in terms of information processing.
As the time for the animal unit has been reduced, I suggest that the task focus should be the creation of some kind of presentation that involves:
Because I hadn't heard from you I did start a draft unit plan based on my thoughts and for the exact reason above i.e. time constraints I thought the below poetry analysis and delivery of a poem would be achievable in the time frame. So fantastic, thanks for that. Would just like confirmation of how you feel I can better manage learning differences using a single topic.
poetry analysis (poetic language features / delivery of a poem debating
Supposing we consider the following task:
Select a poem (or song) you like (must have at least a reference to animals). Present the poem on a poster (A3) which includes the poem and annotations describing language and including the morphology of a least one word. Deliver the poem. Time should also be allowed for some reading/discussion/debate over animals, humans as animals and relationship between the two.
What of my Year 10s? Should I continue the above with them as well or look at starting the Perceptions unit for them in Term 2 since I'm carrying the Personal Reading unit through the remaining two weeks of Term 1?
I'm studying 'Ratatouille' at the moment. The film is incredibly rich with commentary on society especially on families and their effect on children.
) are now ready. Please go through them carefully and tweak. They are almost identical. The AOs are level 4 and 5 respectively - can you spot the differences? You will need to consider further changes in types of optional responses and in suggested readings. These changes can be made on the one document with comments inserted where appropriate.
The following documents are in the T:drive and need to be regularly discussed and updated.
The coverage document is an overview of what we will attempt to cover and when Coverage 9 and 10.docx
The following template should be used for all unit plans. Units are usually half a term (5 weeks) but could be a whole term. The AOs should match the AO coverage chart so that we are all focussing on similar aspects of the curriculum at the same time at all levels. This will allow us to unpack the curriculum together. Template_all_levels.doc
2013 Term 1
Please go to the discussion area on this page by clicking on the number next to the 'Edit' button.Current discussions on year 10 unit planning; and 'research'.
So far:
Joanna and Mitch doing unit on 'Perception' using 'Holes' and the resource "How Deep do you see"
Jenny and Bob doing unit on 'Group identity' using 'Outsiders' and the resource "Wrong side of the tracks"
2012 Term 4:
Hi all. In response to Delilah's comments below here is the plan for the rest of the year. Please use the discussion areas for discussion (top right, click on the number)
1. Weeks 1-5 - completion of earlier work in the year, compilation of folios, prep for exam in week 6. Some work on media units.
2. Week 6 - exam week
3. Weeks 7-9 - possibility of special programme, field trips, ...something different (to be worked out at next LOL meeting, please give me your input.
The exam: (9/10). 2 hours (a bit less..)
1. Response essay. My thinking here is to consider NCEA but simplify slightly.
2. Unfamiliar text.
Folios of work. In the letter I gave to year 10s (fascinating responses to these!) I included the following as a minimum requirement. Anything else you want to include is fine and I think we can apply the same to year 9:
Creative writing (description or story)
Persuasive writing (in the form of either an essay or a letter to the editor)
At least one letter of correspondence (apology, complaint, personal response, request)
At least one reading log entry following the format of year 11 responses again.
N.B The reading response for year 10s should be seen as the beginning of year 11 work as it is the first standard we look at. The full task is called Tasting Texts and includes, towards the end, a summary of requirements that the kids find very useful.
You may also find Steph's framework for reading responses useful, I've modified it and you may want to as well,, and then we can discuss it.
Examples of all of these including writing rubrics will be in you pigeon holes on Tuesday morning.
Finally, on enquiry based teaching (do we really know what this is?) there are great possibilities. Delilah has started the thinking (see below) I really like the idea of student creating their own mini set of study notes - the equivalent of Sparks or Coles. I know it has been done successfully elsewhere. A great extension activity.
Hi Bob,
Can you confirm what writing pieces you want from Junior english this term? I have planned to do the novel study of Slide the Corner; Out Walked Mel and Afterwards. I'm thinking reading response and essay response, is that right?? I'd also like to use this term to promote "finishing" work. I found this year through lack of management on my part perhaps??? That they knew the deadlines and had work basically completed, but lots did not come through with the finishing touches and/or printing/submission. Consequently, I'd like to be able to spend a piece of this term having them reflect per term what was due, where they got to with each piece, for those able, spend some time on finishing those pieces and then collate/create a portfolio of their work for this year i.e. descriptive piece; static image; creative piece; reading response etc so they or I have a booklet of work for 2012. Would that be okay?
Also, in an effort to apply more "consciously" the inquiry based learning, I'd like to allow my top end students the freedom to choose their novel to study and allow them to work in pairs to produce a case study of sorts where they ask a range of questions initially, and then pick one of those to base their novel study around in order to answer the questions they posed. I'd like them tell me what they have chosen to work on and the timeframes they set for themselves e.g. a presentation; speech; formal writing; rap; poem; letter to the editor; If successful, it's something I'd like to continue next year with an entire class to see if it impacts on engagement levels. Last term I was struggling with two boys in 9N. The second I allowed them to work together to create a rap version of a Maui myth, they were heads down, tails up the rest of the term and produced an excellent piece of writing to music.
Let me know your thoughts.
Thanks.
2012 Term 3:
According to our plan we should all be starting myths and legends at this point but Eric and I at least have got ahead of ourselves. I have started with 'Clash of the Titans' using this as a chance to write narrative with dialogue. We are building some good literacy resources here. I want next to look at presentation of myths/gods/goddesses using static images / drama/ speaking/ narrating etc….Please share ideas in the discussion on this page (where the number is top right)
Then we move on to novel study and we need to plan now for resources. Some (Eric?) might like to start novel study immediately. I prefer to use 3 novels to allow for different levels and taste. The writing focus here is the 'response to extended text' essay. However, as we know engagement with literature is tricky. How do we draw kids in to read and to respond from their own experience.
Please let me know asap if you have particular novels you want to book or purchase this term. Here's the start of the list - please add to it.
Yr 9
Out walked Mel
Slide the Corner
Yr 10
Outsiders
Tomorrow when the war began
Older but could be used now?
The Hunger Games
Z for Zachariah
Water in the Blood
Hi all :) Kerry here
I have done the myths and legends stuff with my classes already and we have also worked on a novel study in term one but I was thinking of combining a hot issues with a novel study this term.
I have some good critical literacy resources about gangs and I thought I could use these and some debating activities to kick off some enthusiasm (hopefully!) for studying "The Outsiders" and then get into formal writing and response to text and so on for the year tens.
I was hoping to do something similar with the year nines but focus on issues facing teenagers and then lead into "Out Walked Mel" and base the work around that novel. For students who have read the books already or finish reading them early, I will set up a reading rewards system and get them to check out other year 9/10 English books from the library and work through them. How does that sound?
This is great Kerry. Well done. There are two boxes of resources on 'The Outsiders' in the resource room and some stuff on 'Out walked Mel'. We need to check the library for text numbers. I would like 10P to do this in the second half of the term so can we consider a swap over about mid term. This might apply to other novels. Literacy focus remains on sentencing until mid term. I have set up a new discussion area to share thoughts on how we teach this.
2012 Term 2:
Hi All,
Bob and I met over the holidays and agreed that the Perception unit would be good for Year 9s while 10s cover the Identity/Family unit he developed. When I briefly saw Kerry at the end of Term 2 she clarified whether we'd be working on the Animals unit, and at the time I thought it probably would be. Apologies if this causes any confusion now but going into Term 2 I will be starting with the Perceptions unit and finishing with Animals. I think Bob said this is fine to switch around. I've attached the unit plan for Perceptions that is no different to last years except the poetry has a lyrical focus now to promote more cultural responsiveness, plus it reflects our goal of improving sentence construction.
Bob, please correct me if I've lost the plot completely and got this all wrong!
Thanks.
2012 Term 1:
From Delilah: (in black, Bob in red)
Hi Bob, Jenny, Steph and Kerry
As discussed, here's the draft for 9.1 that'll start our 9s and 10s off for the year. Some of it has been taken from this website
http://www.reading-rewards.com can you have a look before we meet next and let me know if you think its feasible for our Juniors? Though the site was originally created for parents to encourage their children, they've since made a groups section for classes to view what friends are reading, book reviews and blogs. I think it'd be great to have book reviews across the whole Year 9 and 10's. Interclass competitions to accumulate the most reading hours. Agreed reading rewards such as class time in the pool, or playing ping pong, free time on the computers as major rewards, 15 minutes free time in class, shared lunch or something as smaller rewards. My only concern is access to computers because 80% of students will have internet access at home, but to be fair, we'd need to guarantee class time for online logging to cater for the 20% who doesn't have it at home. Let me know your thoughts. This link talks specifically about what we'd be using the site forhttp://www.reading-rewards.com/pls/apex/f?p=501:88:4141977052324165:::::
I think this is certainly worth trialling. Perhaps we should survey the kids as to rewards? I'm a bit concerned about reinforcing an extrinsic reward mechanism that might become an expectation and deny the intrinsic reward that is the enjoyment of the reading itself. Waht do others think? Bob
Can you confirm please I'll be including in the Junior handbook the following only:
1 An overview of our scheme for the year.
2 All unit plans that we'll be covering this year.
2 All assessment tasks?? Or just rubrics?? Because aren't we co-constructing these? I have what I used last year and am happy to include, just would appreciate clarification.
Let's assemble this during the week. I think we will need to co-construct the tasks and rubrics and think perhaps we should just include
everything we need for the first term? (as well as year plan, job roles etc)
What did I miss? Thanks a lot.
2011 TERM 4:
OK, fantastic, thanks for the feedback. Couple of questions:1 - When can Steph work with my top 10c kids and their responses? I have prep'd them and they are excited by the opportunity. They will be relieved when I alleviate the pressure of not having to write about STYLE and I will let them know they have alternative response options you listed. I have booked out a computer room all next week for the 4 periods I have them so she can work with them at a machine while I keep the remainder in class with me.
2 - Have you had any luck sourcing a set of Catching Fire? The sequel to Hunger Games. I have a load of kids saying they want to read it.
3 - What is the hour relief a week going to look like incl 3hrs already gone?
Hi
A few notes to begin with:
The attached response is at excellence level because it is 'perceptive' (as opposed to merely convincing). Our task (guided by the TKI and NZATE models) unpacks convincing in terms of ability to genuinely relate the text to personal experience, and perceptive in terms of ability to see bigger connections in literature, society and history.
Please note that we are not looking at literary analysis here. Any discussion of style (characterisation, vocab, imagery, voice, interior monologue, dialogue..........etc,) serves two purposes. 1. To provide evidence of critical reading, and 2) (more importantly) to develop awareness and appreciation of the writer's craft. This is ONE way of responding (a sophisticated one). However, it is possible to reach excellence with no discussion of style at this level. What is all important is the CONNECTIONS the reader makes to the ideas, stories and characters; in other words to the elements of fiction (for fiction) and to arguments and ideas (for non fiction).
The same applies to the plot synopsis. It is simply there to provide evidence that the text has been read, and allow the student to consider what is important.
What I'd really like to see our energies being put in to here is other ways of responding. ie script writing, scene production, writing in role (a very powerful technique for engagement....)
SO...please don't worry about comprehensive lists of literary techniques. This should be covered when the class examines the same text together.
GOd bless
Bob
Hi Bob,
Can you please read this reading response? I've written it to show my kids as an example of what we're looking for but I need confirmation, that it is what we're looking for lol. e.g. when I wrote the synopsis, I didn't know how detailed to be. Do I give away the ending or any of the twists? As it stands, I tried to be generic and just wet their taste buds, so to speak. Is that sufficient? At the reverse end, is it to much? I read through the ones you gave me and there is no formal language just some technical terms mentioned and their effect(s).
Also, can you please list what technical things could be discussed e.g:
Can you make this list more comprehensive? I'd like to give a template to my students that itemises these things.
Also, I'm having difficulty getting the students to be "bothered" going through the book looking for quotes to prove their points. They're good at coming up with statements and paraphrasing the examples but not at quoting. Which is preferred? Do you have any ideas how to help them break down a book? We've focussed on character development and plot the most.
Your feedback is appreciated.
Thanks.
Hi Jenni and Bob,
Thought I'd upload this incase either of you wanted to use them. One is a pretest I gave my kids on reading responses. The other is a result of my Te Kotahitanga observation. My goal I am trying to improve on this term relates to transitioning in class to minimise the amount of instructional time. I came up with this Reading Log. The idea is I will introduce today, A3 print outs of:
1 - Reading Time
2 - Journal Time
3 - Talk Time
4 - Activity Time
5 - Worksheet Time
These printouts will be displayed around the room to remind students of what each involves. Come tomorrow and every other day while studying/reading the novel, I will vary/arrange on the board an assortment of these different "times". My DO NOW will always be the 15 minute silent reading so that is what they always do this term coming into my class - grab their book and read.
The remaining 45minutes will be a combination of activities taken from each of the different Journal;Talk;Activity;Worksheet tasks listed. The specific activities will be on the board and students should come to know depending on the type of "time" how long they spend on that task before transitioning to the next.
Here incase you find it useful?? :o)
Hi Bob,
As discussed in our meeting here is the copy of the unit plan I'll be working on with my 9's and 10's. The focus being on literary essay and personal reading responses, incorporating media and novel since we didn't get onto novel's last term. I really appreciate your feedback regarding how I can integrate assessment feedback/forward more seamless into my students' learning. It has been on my mind since term 2 how students seem only interested in their summative assessment e.g 50/100 and I haven't yet found way to focus them on my comments that outline how they can improve next time. I like your suggestion of implementing a feedback forum where they have to respond to questions that demonstrate they've not only read my feedforward but have processed it also. I will try this approach this term.
Thanks alot.
TERM 3
Hi DelilahThis is all excellent stuff. At our next meeting I'd like to discuss the terminology that we use with the kids. eg you plan to consider
"story elements such as orientation, complication, resolution and coda". Where does this come from. There's a range of possibilities and I don't mind to much what we use but I think we need to be consistent. The model we use at present with year 11 narrative I find particularly effective.
Can you please try to fit in work on the writing of prose dialogue with an emphasis on the punctuation and layout of speech. This also involves practice in turning direct into indirect speech and vice versa. I say this because it has emerged as a 'gap' in the work I've done with 2 yr 10s so far.
Finally we need if possible to start using oral/drama work for the writing and reading of script even if this only involves a 'reader's theatre'. More on this at our next meeting.
Hi Bob,
Here is the narrative writing unit I've started working on with my classes - I'm sorry its not focussed on script and dialogue - though we will discuss dialogue as one aspect of their narrative writing. If after reviewing you find I'm completely on the wrong track, happy to be "reigned in" lol. For all the other units taught thus far, I always felt nervous to begin without your sign off. This time around, I remembered you saying as long as the AOs are being met, the assessment task is up to me. Thus, I chose short story's and narratives outlined in the coverage document. Alternatively, you might want me to add script/dialogue so that I spend 5 weeks on each??Let me know. Glad you're back, have been missing your reassurance that I'm on the right track.
TERM 2
Hi Bob,I have added my 4 classes into easttle and exported the results. Will copy these up to T drive as requested. Attached are a couple of activities that have worked really well with all my classes in an effort to unpack persuasive writing. Feel free to rehash and use if relevant?? :o)
Please note, you may find terminology confusing but all my students know what is meant by a hook from term one when we worked on a response essay.
Weeks 9-11: Focus on Persuade Purpose
We'll look at getting the info into the asttle site but our immediate job is to use the data to focus on improving 'persuade' writing for the next 3 weeks culminating in some sort of re-assessment in week 10. I suggest we choose 2-3 areas including one deep and one surface - say content, language resources and punctuation and focus on these?
Our starting point should be to organise the class into groups and provide them with examples of 'persuade' writing at the right level. I'm going to give my top group the college herald with reading exercises and letter writing responses. Can we please share other material.
Hi Delilah
On planning -
This all looks good - certainly covers a lot of the AOs for this term. I'll be interested to see how you get on with the static image as I've run into some problems: namely that the task I co-constructed through TK on "Family" met the follwowing barriers.
1. A lot of students didn't want to share stuff on their family - this was ok as I gave them the alternative of doing media families
2. A lot of students had ideas but were incapable of bringing images from home (no computer, no pen drive, no connection between school and home)
3. A lot of students struggled with the notion of a poster carrying a 'message' and after a chat realised that the notion of 'messages' is alien to them. (We viewed some clips of a hip hop competition - I commented on the interesting costumes and asked how they linked to the music. This drew a blank. "What's the music saying, what's the message - blamk or 'there isn' one. Are we entering a period of meaninglessness - bit of worry when the whole Eng curriculum is about meaning.
You have the advantage of giving them quotes - I'm wondering how much further scaffolding will be required. By the way there's a lot of debate about the new level 1 static image standard - I'll send you our task when I'm technologically and physically on my feet again.
Bob
Hi Bob,
Here is the Assessment document I'm proposing to give my 10's for this term. Can you scan over it and confirm if its okay asap? I'd like to start work on it Friday. I still need to run the static image component by Anna so it may completely change - I will use her as the gauge for this task given she worked with the students. Any feedback would be appreciated.
Thanks.
Hi Bob,
Can you get back to about this 10.2 Perceptions plan? Particularly, what you think of the summative tasks and learning outcomes. I wasn't sure what the focus should be with all that we've discussed sorry. Can student choose an analysis or anthology or do they need to do both? Also, not sure of the thematics. If you can shed some further light, that'd be great. I've gone over the AO's and I can see how all 3 of these tie in, just not sure if its being ambitious or not i.e. should I have static image and persuage letter as the compulsory with anthology and analysis for extension?? Because these two alone would satisfy the Making and Creating meaning Ithink??
FYI - Week 1 was on self perception. Week 2 on body language. Week 3 has been on figures of speech. Wandering if I should get into persuasive writing next week and try to pump task 1 of the assessment out of them in week 5/6?? Not sure about timing due to inexperience. Please shed some light.
Thanks
Hi Delilah
The poetry anthology covers the following skills/objectives:
Ability to select texts based around a theme of their choice (poems of love, poems about rejection...poems for Tiki girls ..whatever ...see me for more examples and texts with good thematic based, illustrated poems...).
Ability to PRESENT (using ICT) an illustrated collection (with the extension being the ability to combine words and images to make a new statement)
Ability to justify the choice and write in a genre that describes and explains
The analysis is a chance to show what has been learned in terms of language features and their effects (writer's craft) and provides another important opportunity to look at response to text essay.
It doesn't really matter what you get through - as long as students are engaged in learning something about language and thinking and thoughts and feelings. The 'coverage' is only to keep us focused on specific aspects of the curriculum at the same time.
The static image is covered by the anthology.
PS I think ALL poems are about perception.
Bob
Hi Bob,
Here is the assessment document I'll be giving my Year 9's to work on. I will more than likely need all of next week as we've only just finished how to analyse a poem with a splashing of poetry writing. Its such a shame 9A and 9B didn't get to go to the Farm park because yesterday was such a success with 9C getting their creative writing juices flowing. Thanks for covering my 10's. Sorry for the hassle. Given I have the kids 4 times a week that means 2 classes can be spent on completing poster/presentation plus working on them at home and 2 classes on students delivering their presentations. Let me know thoughts please? Is it to drastic if I don't start the 9.3 Perceptions until until week 4?
Thanks.
Hi Bob,
Sorry its taken so long but here is the 9.2 Unit plan with an exemplar you asked for. (Bob here - I've sent you some feedback on you analysis via e-mail) We've been studying The Eagle throughout this week so I've added it to the document as a reference for the type of thing I will be asking the students to complete for their own poem. Let me know if you want something amended. Still working on the 10.2 and 9.3 perception doco's. Thanks :o)
Please contribute to the developing Middle School Overview:
(Just print them off, write on them and hand to me, or update them on the T- Drive under Middle School Planning
*We do NOT need to assess everything but should consider: 1. what each AO means (unpack) 2. what tasks will allow us to assess a number of them 3. how they are best taught. Please complete the chart then go to 'Enhancing the English Curriculum'
9.1 Personal Reading Assessment Tasks - Hi Bob, as requested, here is a copy of what I used with the students. The assessment rubric has gone through a number of changes since this document - which I can upload separately if you like, however its my understanding you just want to revise the Evaluation section for your students. Let me know, thanks. :o)
Draft Version:
Hi Bob, please give your feedback prior to Wednesday so I can finalise planning. Thanks.
Great. 2 things though.
1. I know that at some point all the values and competencies and values are considered but can we focus on one or two and think about them more. For this unit the thinking one is essential I think.
2. Can we clarify the nature of the presentation task further. Is my suggestion feasible or too hard? An draft example would be most useful.
9.2 Planning - some initial thoughts:
9.2 'Animals'
Having reached the end of the reading unit are there any big obvious gaps from term 1? Keeping the students primary literacy learning needs in mind)
The term 1 AOs are:
MAKING MEANING
selects and reads texts - lots of my students didn't even do this well. There might be 20% who chose a text that they read all the way through. Majority read less than half of the text they chose. Consequently, I to get a single piece of writing I had to resort to magazine articles and/or journal stories for a handful.
monitors, self-evaluates, describes progress, and articulates learning - I have an evaluation on the wiki for Year 9's to give feedback, and we will complete the written evaluation but I wouldn't mind putting together a formative assessment to identify of what we covered, just how much "learning" occurred.
makes meaning …by understanding main and subsidiary ideas ….the few who got up to writing an essay were challenged with this subsidiary ideas. All students irrespective of the level tried to do the same thing and call it an essay - that is, write a page summarising the plot of the story. I ended up getting students to identify a challenge, setting or event and we'd discuss/identify the themes to write together. How to structure the essay was easier to understand, the difficulty was knowing what to write about.
uses an increasing vocabulary to make meaning - Doing acrostic poems helped this aspect a lot.
understanding ..order and organisation - response essay being so structured challenged this aspect the most.
CREATING MEANING
understanding connections between oral, written, and visual
seeks feedback and makes changes
forms and communicates ideas and information
uses a range of oral, written, and visual features to create meaning and effect ..
uses a range of vocabulary to communicate precise meaning
How much visual/oral work have you done? didn't do much visual work other than concrete caricature descriptions, simile and metaphor language features and then for the lower levelled students describing food, famous actor or sportsman
How do you envisage dealing with the research aspect and how does this traditional task fit the new AOs? Research fits well into the AO's but because of our time restrictions I think that's too bigger task to squeeze into 12 classes (Year 10s) and 16 classes (Year 9s). I'd rather take it out of this term but include it later in the year to consolidate how to write a response essay so that if it didn't "click" this term, it clicks before the end of the year. This is now thought of in terms of information processing.
As the time for the animal unit has been reduced, I suggest that the task focus should be the creation of some kind of presentation that involves:
Because I hadn't heard from you I did start a draft unit plan based on my thoughts and for the exact reason above i.e. time constraints I thought the below poetry analysis and delivery of a poem would be achievable in the time frame. So fantastic, thanks for that. Would just like confirmation of how you feel I can better manage learning differences using a single topic.
poetry analysis (poetic language features /
delivery of a poem
debating
Supposing we consider the following task:
Select a poem (or song) you like (must have at least a reference to animals).
Present the poem on a poster (A3) which includes the poem and annotations describing language and including the morphology of a least one word.
Deliver the poem.
Time should also be allowed for some reading/discussion/debate over animals, humans as animals and relationship between the two.
What of my Year 10s? Should I continue the above with them as well or look at starting the Perceptions unit for them in Term 2 since I'm carrying the Personal Reading unit through the remaining two weeks of Term 1?
I'm studying 'Ratatouille' at the moment. The film is incredibly rich with commentary on society especially on families and their effect on children.
NEW: The first of the new units (
9.1 'Let's Read'.doc
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10.1 'Where's My Book
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The following documents are in the T:drive and need to be regularly discussed and updated.
The coverage document is an overview of what we will attempt to cover and when
Coverage 9 and 10.docx
The following template should be used for all unit plans. Units are usually half a term (5 weeks) but could be a whole term. The AOs should match the AO coverage chart so that we are all focussing on similar aspects of the curriculum at the same time at all levels. This will allow us to unpack the curriculum together.
Template_all_levels.doc